Mac startup slow and application launch slow, too

[MacMike075]

Hello,

i bought last year an iMac and upgraded my RAM two months ago to 16GB (Samsung). I am running MAC OS Lion and my hard disk is 1TB.

At now i have a problem with the speed of my iMac by starting up and launching applications. I have noticed that when the mac starts up or application are launching, that my harddisk (SATA-Model) clatter long time till the application launches.
I believe that there are a lot of fragmented files but i have read that mac defrags only files that are less than 20 MB. How can i defrag or do i need to defrag bigger files than 20MB? What do you think about defrag programms like iDefrag?

In advance THX for helps

Mike

 

[GGJstudios]

At now i have a problem with the speed of my iMac by starting up and launching applications. I have noticed that when the mac starts up or application are launching, that my harddisk (SATA-Model) clatter long time till the application launches.
I believe that there are a lot of fragmented files but i have read that mac defrags only files that are less than 20 MB. How can i defrag or do i need to defrag bigger files than 20MB? What do you think about defrag programms like iDefrag?

You don't need to defrag on Mac OS X, except possibly when partitioning a drive.

About disk optimization with Mac OS X

You probably won't need to optimize at all if you use Mac OS X.

Five Mac maintenance myths

This may prove useful: Performance Tips For Mac OS X

Also, launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top). Also, click on the System Memory tab at the bottom. Then take a screen shot, scroll down to see the rest of the list, take another screen shot and post them.

 

[MacMike075]

THX for your helps and have checked and tested a lot of them and now i see a differnce of the speed .

Is there any way yo force the os to make only 20MB and smaller fragment blocks so that the os defrags itself, because all of the files are 20 or less mb small.

THX for additional helps.

 

[GGJstudios]

Is there any way yo force the os to make only 20MB and smaller fragment blocks so that the os defrags itself, because all of the files are 20 or less mb small.

No, but you don't have to worry about that. Fragmentation is not an issue with most users. Just relax and use your Mac as you normally would. Mac OS X doesn't require user intervention to maintain itself.

 

[MacMike075]

OK but i noticed that my hard disk is clattering and so the apps are launching slow.
How can i stop this problem? I believe that this is not so good for the head to clatter so much time, this can reduce the life time of the hd.

 

[GGJstudios]

OK but i noticed that my hard disk is clattering and so the apps are launching slow.
How can i stop this problem? I believe that this is not so good for the head to clatter so much time, this can reduce the life time of the hd.

Without hearing what it sounds like, I can't make a positive determination. Some drives are louder than others, so it could be normal for your drive. It could also mean that the drive is going bad. It's extremely unlikely that it's due to fragmentation. Make sure you have a current backup of your drive, in case it is dying. Carbon Copy Cloner is a great tool for making bootable backups to an external drive. If your internal drive crashes, you simply boot from the backup.

As for the apps being slow, did you go through the performance tips I posted? Or check Activity Monitor, as I recommended?

 

[MacMike075]

Yes i did.

I don't believe that my hd is going to die. I bought my imac last year and i am running drive genius detecting any problems. I believe that this problem occurs because at the beginning i had installed ms office for mac and uninstalled it. In advanced at the beginning last year i installed different apps and uninstalled some of them. After that my mac started getting slow.

 

[GGJstudios]

Yes i did.

I don't believe that my hd is going to die. I bought my imac last year and i am running drive genius detecting any problems. I believe that this problem occurs because at the beginning i had installed ms office for mac and uninstalled it. In advanced at the beginning last year i installed different apps and uninstalled some of them. After that my mac started getting slow.

Uninstalling apps won't make your Mac slow or cause hard drive noises. There's nothing wrong with uninstalling apps.

As I suggested earlier, launch Activity Monitor and change "My Processes" at the top to "All Processes", then click on the CPU column heading once or twice, so the arrow points downward (highest values on top). Also, click on the System Memory tab at the bottom. Then take a screen shot, scroll down to see the rest of the list, take another screen shot and post them.

 

[MacMike075]

OK i will do this soon.

How is the built in programm time machine for making (full and additional) system backups or do you prefer the above programm you mentioned?

THX for additional helps.